For Kids

GABRIELLA'S SONG, by Candace Fleming, with illustrations
by Giselle Potter. (Atheneum, $16; grades K-4.) Melody is
infectious. You get a tune in your head, it moves to your lips, and
before you know it the person in the next room has taken it up. Such is
the case in Gabriella's Song, a story about a girl, a melody,
and the city of Venice. On her way home from the market one morning,
Gabriella takes in all the sounds of the city: the street venders
singing of their wares, the rhythm of tethered boats thumping the canal
walls, the ting-a-ling-ling of church bells, the distant voice of her
mother calling. In her mind, she blends the sounds into a song.
Gabriella hums the song to herself as she waits in a bakery to buy a
cannoli. Taken with the melody, the baker whistles a few bars as he
works. And so it goes. Before long, a gondolier is playing the notes on
his accordion. "The music wafted and weaved on the breeze," finally
finding its way to the window of the brilliant composer Giuseppe Del
Pietro. Giuseppe, as it turns out, is suffering from a bad case of
composers' block; he simply cannot "find the music" for his new
symphony, soon to be performed in the city's famed Piazza San Marco.
Gabriella's melody is the inspiration he needs, and it becomes the
theme for his symphony, which the entire city turns out to hear. To his
credit, Giuseppe acknowledges his debt. "Weeks ago, I was inspired by a
simple song I heard outside my window," he tells the crowd. "To whoever
was singing, I now say grazie." Fleming has written a charming
tribute to the power of music, and Venice—with its history,
winding canals, and colorful people—is the perfect setting. Her
graceful narrative and Potter's exquisite, folkish watercolors make
this book a delight.

—Blake Rodman

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH: A Human Hero, by James Cross Giblin.
(Clarion Books, $20; grade 6 and up.) It has been 70 years since
Charles Lindbergh made his historic solo flight across the Atlantic,
and Giblin, an acclaimed children's writer, has marked the anniversary
with a fine biography that will introduce a new generation to this
controversial American hero. Lindbergh was an only child, shy and
gangly, who spent his youth bouncing between Little Falls, Minnesota,
and Washington, D.C., where his father was a congressman. He was an
indifferent student, preferring to tinker with his motorcycle and the
family's Model T Ford, which he was driving by age 11. But soon his
interest shifted to airplanes. After only eight hours of flying time,
he purchased a plane and barnstormed the South and Midwest before
joining the Army Air Services Training School. In 1926, after
graduation, he helped set up and fly the first airmail delivery service
between St. Louis and Chicago, surviving a number of hair-raising
misadventures. Giblin describes all this in careful detail, but the
book really takes off with its depiction of Lindbergh's entry into the
competition for the $25,000 Orteig Prize, to be awarded the first
person to fly nonstop from New York to Paris. Giblin describes
Lindbergh's preparations, his setbacks, and the grueling flight itself
with the drama and intensity of a thriller. The aviator's success and
the ensuing publicity changed his life forever, making him an
international hero. When his infant son was kidnapped and murdered, the
nation watched in horror. But his trips to Nazi Germany in the late
1930s and his isolationist views and speeches during World War II
turned public opinion against him. Following the war, he wrote several
books and became a consultant to the commercial airline industry.
Giblin presents a balanced and accessible portrait of Lindbergh that
includes many telling anecdotes and fascinating details that will
appeal to young readers. Black-and-white photographs from the period
illustrate the text.

—Barbara Hiron

GOLD RUSH WOMEN, by Claire Rudolf Murphy and Jane Haigh.
(Alaska Northwest Books, $16.95; grade 5 and up.) This is an
unusual history of the Gold Rush in the Yukon and Alaska presented
through the experiences of intrepid women who risked their lives in
search of adventure and riches. Their stories—with sidebars,
maps, and black-and-white photographs—provide an exciting picture
of the gritty times.

CIRCLE OF MAGIC: Sandry's Book,by Tamora Pierce.
(Scholastic, $15.95; young adult.) Four young outcasts who possess
unusual powers are rescued by the mysterious Niko and brought to
Winding Circle, a temple community. There they are trained to control
their unique skills and in the process discover that magic can be a
dangerous gift. This is the first volume of a new fantasy series.

MAILING MAY, by Michael Tunnell, with illustrations by Ted
Rand. (Greenwillow, $16; grades K-4.) In 1914, 5-year-old Charlotte
May Pierstorff was mailed from Grangeville, Idaho, to her grandmother's
house in Lewiston on the other side of the mountains. She traveled by
rail in the mail car with her mother's cousin Leonard, a postal clerk
on the train. The postage was an affordable 53 cents, considerably less
than the regular train fare. Although Tunnell has fictionalized May's
story, he insists in an author's note that the central events are true.
Rand's winning watercolors bring the period to life.

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